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July 28, 2005
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Welcome to the newsletter about all things water
in Montana!
MONTANA WATER NEWS will come your way via email every month with fresh news about meetings and water topics that we hope is of interest to you. If you do not want to receive this
newsletter, please scroll down and follow the directions to unsubscribe. If you are seeing only text in this email, or if it's not easy to read, please make sure your email program is set to view "HTML" messages, or view the newsletter online in the newsletter archives. |
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Hydrology Education Consultant Speaks at Brown Bag Lunch |
Dr. Wendy Wempe |
Dr. Wendy Wempe,
hydrology education consultant, spoke about "Finding Common Ground: Conveying
Scientific Significance to Decision-Makers" on July 13 at a Montana Water Center
lecture on the Montana State University campus. Wempe specializes in communicating
technical issues to non-scientists – things like teaching groundwater flow or
drought concepts to water lawyers, environmental lawyers, policy-makers, and
water resource managers. She is the owner of Hydro Info, a consulting firm in
Colorado.
Her presentation focused on the “Top Ten” most important things for scientists and policy makers to learn about each other when communicating on complex resource issues:
1. What jobs do my audience members hold?
2. What is their level of expertise?
3. What issues do they deal with?
4. What is their language?
5. Do they have any biases? Do I?
6. What’s their learning style? Use these tips when making presentations:
- Start global, go specific
- Use work charts sparingly
- Use summaries
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- Provide context
- Mix your media
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7. What do they need from me?
8. How can I explain the science (or policy) conceptually?
9. What is my optimal communications approach?
10. Most importantly, what is our common ground?
The bottom line, says Wempe, is to know your audience. Without this, misunderstanding looms in big water resource decisions involving municipal development, river management drought mitigation, and so on. To find out more about Dr. Wempe’s trainings, go to http://www.hydro-info.com.
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New Montana Water Center Web Site |
The Newly Redesigned Montana Water Center Web Site
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This week the Montana
Water Center unveils its newly redesigned web site which features easier navigation
and more resources. Its many new features include rotating Montana water facts, "Ask
the Montana Water Center" assistance, quick access to the Montana Water web site,
and full descriptions of Montana Water Center's programs and services.
Visit the newly redesigned
Montana Water Center web site at http://watercenter.montana.edu.
The web site has a new URL so be sure to update your bookmarks. The old URL will
automatically redirect you to the new site just in case. |
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Montana Water Annual Meeting Update |
The planning team from the Montana Section of the American Water Resources Association and the Montana Water Center met this month to develop a full agenda for the October 27 and 28 meeting in Bozeman. Guest speakers include:
- Dr. Jack
Ward Thomas: Featured banquet speaker, biologist on the faculty of the University of Montana and former Chief of the U.S. Forest Service from 1993-1996.
- Robert Glennon: Attorney and author of "Water Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America's Fresh Waters” with Island Press.
- William Woessner: Geological Society of America's 2005 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer.
More than 25 scientific papers and 20 posters will address the meeting theme: "Surface Water/Ground Water: One Resource." Attendees
can also partake in a field trip hosted by Alan English and Steve Custer, student
presentations and awards, the pig roast/photo contest banquet, and art raffle.
Ball caps bearing the new Montana AWRA logo will available at the meeting.
Registration information and the preliminary agenda will be released in mid-August by mail and e-mail notice. Contact the Water Center at water@montana.edu for latest information, or check the Montana Section AWRA web site for updates at
http://awra.org/state/montana/events/conference.htm. |
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Clark Fork Water Education Program |
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The Technical Outreach Department at Montana Tech of the University of Montana received funding in 2005 from Montana’s Natural Resource Damages Program to run a basin-wide watershed science project called the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program (CFWEP).
The program is designed to integrate Superfund remediation and restoration efforts in the Upper Clark Fork basin with grades 6-12 science curricula. Primary goals are to teach students the history of their watershed, the environmental consequences of that history and what is being done now to create a healthy river ecosystem for future generations.
Teachers and students will be involved in various hands-on field activities guided by CFWEP staff and a network of professional scientists currently working in the basin. By the end of 2007, CFWEP will have reached every school in the Upper Clark Fork Watershed from Butte to Bonner -- upwards of 2,500 students and their teachers.
The first annual Upper Clark Fork Watershed Summer Science Academy hosted by CFWEP and Advancing Rural Montana Science is set for August 15-17 at Montana Tech. The academy is for science teachers and will include field trips and workshops led by renowned experts in geology, chemistry, ecology, soils, fisheries, wildlife, water quality, and communications, as well as curriculum writing sessions. Educators interested in taking part in the academy should contact CFWEP Administrator Colleen Elliott at celliott@mtech.edu or
(406) 496-4143. |
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NEMO |
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We often come across good web resources. Here’s one called Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials -- a nice link between science and policy.
Visit the site at
http://nemo.uconn.edu/about.htm. |
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NRIC.net |
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The US Agency for
International Development (USAID) Natural Resources Management Office (NRM) has
created an online library, the National Resources Information Clearinghouse (NRIC),
comprised of the Agency's projects related to biodiversity, forestry, land management
and water. With summary information of more than 450 projects, NRIC.net provides
users with seamless links to technical documents and current NRM initiatives
related to tourism, poverty reduction, and geographic information systems (GIS).
It is designed to assist USAID mission staff, contractors, and implementing partners
with project planning, decision-making, and research relevant to natural resource
management in international development.
Visit NRIC.net or
go to USAID’s water page at
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/water for
more water-related information. |
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New Montana Water Center Library Acquisitions |
The
Montana Water Center wishes to share its newest library acquisitions. You may
check out these or any other items in our collection by visiting the Water Center's
Online Lending Library at http://watercenter.montana.edu/lending_library.
- 11th Annual Whirling Disease Symposium, Proceedings, 2005.
- Water-Quality Assessment of the Yellowstone River Basin, Montana and Wyoming – Water Quality of Fixed Sites, 1999-2001, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5113, Miller, Kirk A,, Clark Melanie L., Wright Peter R., 2005.
- Water Resources Data, Montana Water Year 2004 – Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, USGS Water-Data Report MT-04-1, Berkas, Wayne R., White, Melvin K., Ladd, Patricia B., Bailey, Fred A., Dodge, Kent A., 2005.
- Water-Quality
Characteristics of Quaternary Unconsolidated-Deposit Aquifers and Lower Tertiary
Aquifers of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming and Montana, 1999-2001, Bartos, Timothy
T., Eddy-Miller, Cheryl A., Norris, Jodi R., Gamper, Merry E., and Hallberg,
Laura, 2005.
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The
Distribution of Trace Elements in Floodplain Soils and Sediments of the Upper
Blackfoot River, Montana, Vanderberg, Gregory S., PhD Dissertation, 2005.
- American Water Resources Association Second Water Resources Policy Dialogue, Richard A. Engberg, Editor, 2005.
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UNESCO Water Portal |
The UNESCO Water Portal web site provides on-line access to all sorts of information related to freshwater. All water managers are invited to participate by providing information on activities, useful links, news and content which they wish to share with others and generally make more widely available. The last three issues of Water Portal have focused on water supply, ground water supply, and water and populations. Here are a few quick facts from the long lists provided in each issue of Water Portal at http://www.unesco.org/water.
- Today, with a global withdrawal rate of 600–700 km3/year, groundwater is the world's most extracted raw material.
- Drinkable water is becoming increasingly scarce. By the year 2025, it is predicted that water abstraction will increase by 50% in developing countries and 18% in developed countries, as population growth and development drive up water demand. Effects on the world's ecosystems have the potential to dramatically worsen the present situation, and current assessments suggest that existing practices are not adequate to avert this.
- The global overview of water availability versus population stresses continental disparities, and in particular the pressure put on the Asian continent, which supports 60% of the world's population with only 36% of the world's water resources. Europe has 13% of the world's population and 8% of the world's water resources; Africa has 13% of the world's population and 11% of the world's water resources; North and Central America has 8% of the population and 15% of the water; Oceania has less than 1% of the world's population but 5% of the world's water resources; and South America has 6% of the world's population yet 26% of the world's water resources.
- An analysis based on health statistics for the year 2000 shows that globally between 1,085,000 and 2,187,000 deaths due to diarrhoeal diseases can be attributed to the ‘water, sanitation and hygiene' risk factor, 90% of them among children under five.
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So many meetings, so little time. Even so, there are a few that water folks just shouldn't miss! Take special note of the newly announced
Western Wetlands Conference slated for Denver in October 2005. Find more information on these and other upcoming events on the Events Calendar at MONTANA WATER. |
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 Call
for Presentations: Climate Science in Support of Decision-Making Workshop, Arlington,
VA, July 30, 2005 [INFO] |
Contaminant Chemistry and Transport in Soil and Groundwater, Helena, MT, August 9 - 11, 2005 [INFO] |
2005 Upper Clark Fork Watershed Summer Science Academy, Butte, MT, August 15 - 17, 2005 [INFO] |
4th New Zealand Mudsnail in the Western USA Conference, Bozeman, MT, August 16 - 17, 2005 [INFO] |
Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water Workshop, Cincinnati, OH, August 16 - 18, 2005 [INFO] |
Arctic Grayling Symposium, Jackson, MT, August 26 - 27, 2005 [INFO] |
2005 Colorado Nonpoint Source Forum - Watershed Cookbook: Watershed Plan Recipe, Glenwood Springs, CO, September 7, 2005 [INFO] |
American Fisheries Society 135th Annual Meeting, Anchorage, AK, September 11 - 15, 2005 [INFO] |
Watershed
Coordinator's Training Retreat, Paradise Valley, MT, September 12 - 14, 2005 [INFO] |
Yellowstone River Watch Meeting and Training, Glendive, MT, September 17 - 18, 2005 [INFO] |
Environmental & Subsurface Science Symposium, Big Sky, MT, September 19 - 21, 2005 [INFO] |
Floodplains and Rivers: Connections and Re-Connections Meeting, Missoula, MT, September 22 - 23, 2005 [INFO] |
ASDSO Dam Safety 2005 National Conference, New Orleans, LA, September 25 - 29, 2005 [INFO] |
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